From league-leading to middle of the pack, from the NCAA tournament to arguably the “Not Important” Tournament, the UNM men’s basketball team hit a wall one year after making a historic run.
As head coach Steve Alford likes to remind people, the Lobos were without Darington Hobson and Roman Martinez — the latter graduated; the former left UNM to pursue a NBA career. Without them, guard Dairese Gary was left to lead the way — and he did for much of the 2010-11 season, until he tore his anterior cruciate ligament in the semifinals of the Mountain West Conference tournament.
The Lobos entered MWC conference play, surprisingly, with a 12-3 nonconference record. Hindsight showed that they weren’t quality wins: All of the Lobos’ nonconference wins came against teams that missed out on the NCAA tournament.
It showed during the MWC gauntlet.
UNM was 2-4 against the MWC’s top three teams — San Diego State, BYU and UNLV — its only wins coming against BYU.
Alford would have you think the Lobos tapered off because of inexperience and youth, but even his players didn’t prove that line of thinking.
Freshman guard Kendall Williams and other coming-of-age players contributed above their years. In Gary’s absence at the end of the year, Williams showed signs of future leadership, scoring 18 points in back-to-back NIT contests against UTEP and Alabama.
Freshman Tony Snell was big off the bench in the Lobos’ 86-77 upset of BYU at The Pit on Jan. 29. Snell scored a career-high 16 points and was 4-of-6 from beyond the 3-point line.
Forward Alex Kirk scored a freshman-record 31 points against Cal State Bakersfield, but was dormant during conference play.
That’s when UCLA transfer Drew Gordon, who sat out the first half of the season because of NCAA transfer rules, made his money. The 6-foot-9 inch forward from San Jose, Calif., averaged 13 points and 10 rebounds and was named the MWC Newcomer of the Year.
Undoubtedly, the Lobos had key contributors, but were fueled, more or less, by Gary.
UNM held a five-game winning streak, including four straight wins over BYU, heading into its semifinal tilt against the Cougars with NCAA tournament aspirations on the line.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
That’s when Gary tumbled — and with it, the Lobos’ shot at an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
UNM was not the same without its senior guard, who set a UNM career with 93 career wins.
Gary sat alone on the bench at the end of the game in an uncomfortable and depressing end to a season that seemed promising.
If it was any consolation, guards Jamal Fenton and Williams picked up Gary’s tab in the National Invitational Tournament, but even that ended sour with a 74-67 loss at top-seeded Alabama.
Even though UNM is losing Gary, its hub, its chances to get back into the league-leading conversation are good with the subtraction of BYU, which departs the MWC for the West Coast Conference next season. Utah is also leaving for the Pac-10 (soon to be Pac-12).
San Diego State and UNLV will have their rosters raided by graduation, leaving the Lobos, more or less, intact.
UNM might have concluded its season in an unimportant tournament, but the coming-of-age process the Lobos embarked on will prove beneficial next season. The Lobos proved they can see over the wall; now they must climb it.
